The question continues to rage: on one side, President George W. Bush who says what he did was legal. But on the other side we’re now seeing an array of legal experts saying “NOT!”….plus some politicos who don’t confirm the White House version of events.
But watch some videos courtesy of Crooks And Liars and judge for yourself (we’ll include a few of C&L’s non-video links as well on this story):
- Law professor Jonathan Turley says a federal crime was committed. NOTE: Turley was highly critical of President Bill Clinton during the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment hearings.
- Alan Dershowitz agrees. Dershowitz is a Democrat so his comments may be dismissed by some. But Turley’s will be hard to discredit.
- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defends it.
- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is clearly irked by GWB’s action.
- Former Majority Leader Tom Daschle contradicts Bush’s version of events.
- Senator Jay Rockefeller says things unfolded differently, too.
Will this issue go away? Hardly. There is no “nuance” in the adminsistration’s position: it feels it has the perfect right to do it under existing law but some lawmakers say it’s flatly illegal. Bush also says that since it’s legal, he’ll keep doing it. Critics say he shouldn’t. ETC.
One of the questions in this controversy, aside from other issues, is this:
Are members of Congress of both parties ready to defend separation of powers and checks and balances built into American government that have worked so well — as past members of Congress have steadfastly done? Or do they feel as we move into the 21st-century more power should be yielded to the executive branch…which apparently is just reaching out and taking it?